Amazing Grace

When Aretha's Amazing Grace was released in June 1972, my grandmother heard a bit of a friend's and had to have it. I was dispatched to make the buy. I took D.C. Transit to Northeast; copped the record for 10 bucks. Mama played nothing else that summer. She would LOVE the movie.

Avengers: Endgame

Avengers: Endgame lingers on some wonderfully affecting moments among the surviving members of this dysfunctional but lovable family as they suit up for a battle royal for all existing chips. Downey's Iron Man is once again the MVP but all of the graying originals take their bow.

If it is about anything other than superheroes and supervillains ~ and it most certainly is ~ it rings most clearly and passionately about humanity's capacity to heal after catastrophic losses and to resist evil. It is wild and jokey but also touching and profound.

Homecoming

Beyonce’s documentary Homecoming is part concert film / part journal / part tribute to Black collegiate culture but wholly splendid as a testament to Bey’s discipline, genius as an iconic performer and her power as a spokesperson for marginalized people — in and out of the Hive.

Ramy

Comedian Ramy Youseff's self-titled sitcom on Hulu combines familiar American millennial disaffection with Muslim identity codes and conflicts to create a bracingly provocative and funny series about Ramy's search for happiness and God, praying they won't be mutually exclusive.

Fleabag

True to its promo still, Fleabag Season 1 was indeed about unpleasant people, but creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge had much more in mind as she peeled away layers of callous defensiveness to expose Fleabag's festering sex addiction to, hopefully, healing air. Season 2 begins in May.

Missing Link

Chris Butler's riotous Missing Link brims with visual cleverness as it recounts the adventures of an anxious Sasquatch (Zach Galifianakis) on a global hunt for his secluded Yeti cousins, aided by an icy British speculator (Hugh Jackman) and a gutsy widow with a map (Zoe Saldana).

Shazam!

David F. Sandberg's Shazam! dazzles because of the hilarious pairing of Zachary Levi and Jack Dylan Grazer as the eponymous mystical superhero and his mouthy buddy, respectively. Their scenes make up for regrettably lackluster performances by nearly everyone else in the picture.